SOTA c64s02
Text It was going on late evening, and Twilight Sparkle had taken Innocence back home, and Barry had returned to Canterlot, happily taking the first of the set of books detailing the old stories of Celestia, Sleipnir, and Luna with him. Scrivener and Luna were still at the library with Celestia, however, and the ivory mare currently had a large mirror in an ornate gold frame propped up on the table beside her, all eyes focused on this as it didn't reflect the world that gazed into it, but instead showed the faintly-blurred image of Kvasir. The homunculus god rubbed moodily at his features, then he looked through the scrying mirror and out at them, his voice both distorted and echoing at the same time, like they were speaking to each other from across a hollow cavern: “Yes, we've caught several abnormalities in other layers. No, I have not investigated them... it's not that I don't want to, it's that you know as well as I do, I can't risk attracting something like Thesis into Valhalla. Our forces are still minimal, and even if we've begun new training programs, we have no veteran Valkyries and few champions.” Scrivener and Luna traded grimaces at this, but Celestia only nodded calmly, looking unsurprised before she said softly: “I'm not asking for Valhalla to intercede. I'm asking for you to tell us about these abnormalities, Kvasir. And if we can at all, to let us step in and help.” Kvasir made a face at this through the mirror, but he looked uneasy as he swept one hand through his mane before closing his eyes and sighing tiredly. “Freya... you know that I respect you, but... I'm not sure at all about this. The core world must be protected, but I can't have you... happily running off to try and defend every layer all by yourselves. For Mimir's sake, if I could, I'd have you and Sleipnir and even Brynhild come to Valhalla to run these training programs and help protect us. Especially since Hel continues to send her nasty little ambassadors up to Valhalla for apparently no purpose except to harass me.” “Aye, Hel always was a bitch.” Luna remarked mildly, and Celestia sighed but nodded grudgingly after a moment, and Scrivener could swear he heard a grumble of agreement even from Valthrudnir. “Paranoid, completely lunatic, and apparently less-interested in performing her role in Helheim and more interested in endlessly tormenting and mocking the gods and Valhalla from her safe little bubble far, far beneath Helheim.” “Has Hel herself ever appeared in Valhalla? Not in physical form... it's well-known she never leaves her throne. But as I recall she can project herself through a variety of forms and guises.” Celestia said quietly, and Kvasir hesitated for a moment before he shook his head a few times, and the ivory mare smiled after a moment. “Good. Let's hope it stays that way.” Yes, the last thing we need is to deal with that ridiculous hag. Valthrudnir muttered in Scrivener's mind, and the charcoal stallion tilted his head in surprise as Luna frowned over at him curiously, picking up on the dragon's voice. She is nothing but a babbling lunatic. As a matter of fact, she reminds me very, very much of the obnoxious little pink pony twinned from the demon. Except somehow even more devastating to the senses. “Sounds like we'd get along great, then. The sad thing is that I'm not entirely surprised.” Scrivener mumbled, and Luna shrugged and dropped her head against his shoulder. Kvasir, meanwhile, was once more deep in thought, the image in Celestia's scrying mirror distorting and blurring as he leaned away from whatever he was using up in Valhalla to speak to them, and then the homunculus god finally sighed and leaned forwards to appear more clearly through the mirror, saying finally: “There is one particular instance we detected in another world that perhaps warrants your attention. A powerful fluctuation of energies was noted, very likely a portal. But what was more disturbing than this was the fact that this constant abuse of gateways between reality may have let something else in, something that has stained that reality.” “Something from the spaces between worlds?” Luna asked quietly, looking up with a grimace and a shiver. “Damnation, Kvasir! Whether it has to do with Thesis or not, then we have no choice but to go to that layer, to protect the ponies and destroy whatever it is!” “It That Is.” Celestia shivered for a moment, then looked up and nodded calmly. “That's out of your hands, Kvasir, and you should have reported the presence of one of those creatures to us immediately. That kind of threat takes precedence even over Thesis: you know as well as I do that when something like that enters a physical layer, it starts shredding apart and endangering reality itself.” Kvasir only shook his head quickly in response, saying in a moody voice: “Don't patronize me, Freya, I know my job and if it was one of the Hræzla-” “Do not speak their name!” Luna snapped at the mirror, as the very air seemed to shiver around them, the walls and floor of the library creaking quietly as the branches of the enormous tree swayed in the windless evening. “Do not tempt fate, idiot god! Reality is thin, and to speak their name invites them to spread their malice into our world and thy precious Heaven!” Kvasir grumbled at this, brushing at himself as Celestia murmured: “Names have great power. I do not desire to tempt Those That Are. They are better left forgotten in their exile between the worlds. They are one of the very few things I do not desire to know anything more about than I already do, and wish would vanish from our memories forever.” “Very well.” Kvasir muttered, and then he shook his head slowly. “But it was not It That Is. Similar in some respects, which by itself is disturbing, and why I have decided to speak to you about this problem. The presence of the creature alone is creating a massive amount of interference, but I am also concerned that this is a strategy being used by Thesis to lure you into a more vulnerable position.” “And so what, thou would prefer to leave a layer at the claws of a monster, to be destroyed, and keep thy sorry little secret instead of telling us so we may go there, pummel it, and then possibly pummel Thesis himself?” Luna asked incredulously, and then she glared over at Celestia. “Punch him. Punch him through the mirror. I know thou can and I demand thou do it!” Celestia only gestured at Luna to quiet and calm, but she did then turn a disapproving look on Kvasir. Kvasir faced her calmly, his eyes unflinching as he said quietly: “I am an administrator, in charge of keeping Odin's legacy intact, and watching over the core world. I must weigh and measure every option carefully, and look at things as coldly and logically as possible to consider every positive and negative. I had to look at this old middle-ground layer only as territory, in spite of the fact that yes, I recognize those are real lives on the planet, who are going to suffer and die. But I will gladly sacrifice one world if it means protecting the core world, and saving many, many others.” Luna shivered at this, and Celestia closed her eyes as she murmured: “I appreciate your logic, Valthrudnir. And I know it's true, and that you have a hard, difficult job, making decisions that can literally save or destroy entire layers of reality. But do not underestimate our strength.” Celestia's eyes opened, sharp and cold and calm. “We are Valkyries, and we do not hide or run from battle. We face our enemies, no matter whether they're demons, or gods, or Those That Are.” There was silence for a few moments, and then Kvasir sighed quietly before he said finally: “Give me two days to finish business in Valhalla, and to examine the layer as much as possible. Whatever it is, reality is stable, and I don't think the idiot mortals of that realm are even aware of its existence yet. It's been mostly roaming an uninhabited pocket of land on the far western side of Equestria, away from most civilization and everything but rocks and trees and wildlife.” Celestia frowned at this, hesitating before she said finally: “Promise me that if it does make a move, you'll inform us immediately and we can decide on a possible course of action.” “Very well, Freya, you have my word. But you should be concentrating on Thesis right now. Not on saving other worlds from unknown monsters that may not even have anything to do with him.” Kvasir said irritably, but Celestia only smiled a little at this and shook her head slowly. “No, Kvasir. If we fail to stand up and help protect others because of our own problems, then we let down Odin's memory and fail in our duties. Who and what we are... requires sacrifice at times.” Celestia looked down and nodded slowly. “And I will not let down ponies in need. Be they of this world or another, I will help them. As a Valkyrie, and as a pony... I have to help them.” There was silence for a few moments, and Kvasir sighed and nodded grudgingly before saying moodily: “Fine. Fine, I won't argue with you any further, Freya, you know best. Even if I do disagree with your philosophies and think our time and efforts are better saved for the future. Excuse me.” And with that, Kvasir vanished from the scrying mirror, which now only reflected Celestia's uneasy features as she looked into it silently. Scrivener and Luna both gazed across at her, and then the mare sighed a little before glancing up and smiling as Discombobulation walked in, carrying a tray loaded with several glasses of cola and a tall stein filled with amber liquid for Celestia. “Here. Not-drinks for the drunks, and drinks for the not-drunk.” “Wondrous.” Luna said grouchily as Discombobulation set the tray down, and Bob only nodded pleasantly before he snapped his fingers, an enormous bowl of party mix appearing on the table. Luna's horn glowed to lift a hoof-full of pretzels out of this, tossing them into her jaws and chewing loudly even as she asked: “So what are we to do now? And Scrivener Blooms, does thou think this has something to do with what thine instincts were hinting at?” “I think you have to learn to chew with your mouth closed, for one thing. For another...” Scrivener paused, then nodded slowly as he picked up his glass of cola, and Luna became a little more serious as Discombobulation and Celestia both frowned a little. The Draconequus looked meditatively at the charcoal stallion, then he sighed tiredly and glanced down at his metal arm, flexing it slowly. “Look at this. I just got it back. And now we're going to go and get it broken again. Well, you know what they say... when life gives you lemons...” Discombobulation paused, then frowned before he slammed his metal fist down against the table, rattling the surface and making all the ponies stare. “No, you know what? When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade! Make life take those lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons, what am I supposed to do with these?” The chimerical creature leapt up on top of his chair, clenching his metal hand into a fist and shaking it up at the ceiling as he glared towards the sky. “Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Discombobulation lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the Draconequus who's gonna burn your house down – with the lemons! I'm gonna get Cowlick to invent a combustible lemon that'll burn your house down!” “Oh, I like thee at times like this, Bob.” Luna said with relish, grinning widely over at the Draconequus and dropping her chin in her front hooves, and Celestia smiled warmly up at the chimerical creature before she reached up and grabbed him, yanking him down out of the chair to kiss him firmly, and Bob's eyes went stupidly wide as he flailed his limbs a bit before simply dropping limp, then falling back into his chair with a dumb smile when she finally let him go. Luna laughed at this, then looked amusedly across at Scrivener, who smiled back despite himself before Discombobulation remarked awkwardly: “I really hope no one demands that I properly attribute everything one day. After that, I believe that my memory's just been wiped. Like in that movie. Except in a much more physical and fun fashion.” He cleared his throat, then patted at his chest a few times. “No, I think I'm safe from deletion for now. We're not Sprites struggling to survive in a Mainframe hounded by an evil virus or two, after all, nor do we have to fear the Master Control Program or anything ridiculous like that.” The Draconequus nodded thoughtfully to himself, then lightly patted a tattoo against his chest before glancing over at Celestia and remarking seriously: “Girl, look at my body.” “I do.” Celestia smiled slightly, reaching up and stroking a hoof gently down his arm, and Discombobulation cleared his throat awkwardly at this response, rubbing lamely at his neck before the ivory mare turned her eyes towards Luna and Scrivener. “Discombobulation is right, though, in his... own strange way. Let's not simply make the best of what we've been given, but use it as momentum to push back against our enemies. If Thesis is involved somehow, maybe we can turn this against him.” “That would be nice. I would adore watching Thesis struggle against one of Those That Are.” Luna muttered, then she shivered a little as she thought of the Gray Mountains of the Equestria they had lived in, where reality had always been thin and poisonous, letting in monsters from between reality and other horrible, should-have-been-left-forgotten places: things like the Black Wolves, and that creature they had seen while leading souls away from the Black Baroque... “We have two days to think on things and prepare...” Celestia hesitated, looking over at Scrivener and Luna quietly. “I know I can't stop you from coming with us. But you cannot bring Innocence... while we're gone, she'll have to stay here, with Antares and Meadowlark, or Sleipnir and Pinkamena. We'll have to again ask our little brother to stay behind, after all.” “Aye, but I do not think he will complain if we leave Innocence in his care. I shall ask Morning Glory to come with us as well.” Luna said softly, nodding once, and Celestia nodded back in agreement. “We shall speak to Twilight Sparkle about this tonight, though... Innocence very much does not like being left alone. She is a very...” Luna stopped, then smiled a little and shook her head. She didn't have the words for her daughter. She only knew what she was: special. Scrivener nodded a little, and Celestia gazed across at them softly before Discombobulation sighed and swept up his glass of cola, drinking it quickly down and muttering: “Well, I suppose that I'm coming too, if you hadn't figured it out already. We'll be a party of five.” The Draconequus paused, then looked up thoughtfully. “Huh. I didn't even mean to make that reference. Which Final Fantasy game was it that let you have five people out at once, by the way? Or are we going to do that switch-in, switch-out thing? And how will that work with Luna Brynhild and Scrivener Blooms, are their HP bars linked? I think that would be a rather tricky thing to deal with. Enemy area of effect attacks would suddenly become twice as dangerous, and let's not even get into what happens if it carries a damage per second effect, too. That would just be uncool.” Luna glared at the Draconequus, and Scrivener rubbed awkwardly at his features before the chimerical creature shrugged. “It's a fun thought, though. I think you'd like video games... both of you, really. You can kill things all day without having to feel bad, then do it all over again tomorrow. You can meet people all over the wide, wide world, and enjoy the sounds of twelve year olds screaming and swearing at you with impunity because they think you can't do anything to them. Except headshot them over and over and over again until they break down into tears.” The sapphire mare sighed at this, rolling her eyes before she asked mildly: “Discombobulation, I sometimes fear the wonders and terrors of the world thou hints at existing out there, beyond our realms of existence. Pray tell, are there Valkyries there too?” “Well, yes, but they're not like you, Scrivener Blooms. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed, and people argue all the time what their real purpose was... sex-objects or bodyguards or whatnot. And they were really liked by Nazis.” Discombobulation paused, then said mildly: “You have no idea how nice it is to be able to call you by a really not-pleasant term and not get punched for it, because you have no idea what it means or what the specific context happens to be. I can also call you a Twilight-lover and mean several things by it, and you would just nod in agreement, yes?” Luna nodded firmly in agreement, and Discombobulation sat comfortably back and laced his fingers with his metallic digits before glancing down at these thoughtfully. “You know, I have to admit, Tia, I'm very jealous of the way that you were able to so easily part yourself from being deified. Yes, yes, I know, you're still seen as a holier-than-holy figure by many, but all the same. You've avoided crucifixion, beheading, snarky comedians... all the usual ways that saviors get killed.” Celestia only smiled slightly at this and shrugged slowly, looking across at Luna and saying softly: “Well, the memory gap helped quite a bit with that, and being a Baroness instead of a Princess or Queen thought to be beyond the touch or reach of any average pony.” “Yes, I do know that you do like to touch ponies, and other things.” Discombobulation remarked dryly, and then he covered his mouth at this thoughtfully. “Huh. I sounded almost like Luna for a moment there. Now that's a terrifying thought... the last thing I want to be is a poet.” Scrivener only rolled his eyes, giving a dryly-amused look to the Draconequus but not bothering to respond, and Luna smiled a little as her horn glowed and scooped up some party mix from the bowl, tossing it into her jaws and chewing loudly. She began to raise her glass, then glanced up in surprise as Celestia rose her own stein quickly, saying softly: “To family, friends, and honor.” “Aye, may they all last forevermore.” Luna agreed with a smile, and the four rose their glasses in a toast, clinking them together before they all drank deeply back, ready to push forwards and rise to meet whatever conflict or threat was waiting for them in the all-too-near future. Top ↑